From data points to decisions: What communications teams really need

The article was written by: Antonia Eidner & Ricarda Heim

Communications teams have never had as much data as they do today and at the same time rarely have the feeling that they are really making decisions based on it. LinkedIn Insights, media monitoring, web analytics and newsletter reports have long been established. The problem rarely lies in access.

The process is similar in many teams: Figures are collected, dashboards are built, reports are sent out. And then surprisingly little happens. No clear decision, no joint learning, no visible change. Reporting often remains an end in itself. Yet this is precisely where the difference lies: reporting describes what happened. Analytics helps to decide what happens next.

Do we measure or do we decide?

One reason for this is that people often measure what is easy to measure and not what really counts. Reach, engagement rates or clipping figures are quickly available, but rarely relevant to management. A KPI that is not followed by a decision is ultimately just a number. The more important question before any measurement is therefore not “Can we track this?”, but “What decision does it depend on?”.

Data culture does not start with tools

This puts the spotlight on a topic that is often underestimated: Data culture. Because before a team talks about key figures, it needs a shared understanding of what success actually means. Not in abstract terms, but in concrete terms, for a campaign, a target group or a specific time period.

In practice, it becomes clear how different these ideas can be. One person thinks about reach, another about credibility, the third about application starts via the careers page. As long as this is not made explicit, everyone talks about data, but thinks about different things. Data culture therefore does not start with tools, but with conversations.

Once this foundation is in place, it is possible to clearly derive what is to be measured. The path always goes from top to bottom: Company goals, communication goals, team goals, KPIs. Not the other way around. What many teams also underestimate: KPIs need context in order to be relevant to management. An engagement rate alone is meaningless as a figure unless it is clear whether it was a campaign phase or always-on content. Whether the target group has grown or whether there was an external trigger.

This shared understanding then gives rise to routines in which data is actually used: to form hypotheses, make decisions and check impact. It is often not large systems that make the difference, but small, consistent formats. A weekly 20-minute insight stand-up with a clear structure achieves more than the perfect dashboard without a usage routine.

AI helps, clarity decides

And then AI comes into play. It can recognize patterns faster, structure large amounts of data and make insights more accessible. But it does not replace what needs to be there at the beginning: Clarity about goals, priorities and impact . Incidentally, this applies to any type of AI deployment. Without this foundation, AI becomes the next reporting tool. With it, it becomes a real lever for better decisions.

The 55% of European communications professionals who, according to the European Communications Monitor 2024/2025, see barriers to AI implementation due to a lack of skills or a lack of acceptance within the team are not describing a tool problem. They are describing a cultural problem.

The real challenge therefore lies less in the technology than in the attitude. Data and AI become effective when teams learn to use them as a tool, as guidance, and not as control. When they ask questions instead of just collecting figures. And when they have the courage to make decisions based on data that differ from what they are used to.

This is exactly where the webinar “Analytics, AI & Attitude” comes in. It is not about understanding even more key figures, but about how data can be turned into real decision-making ability. How communication teams gain clarity, make impact visible and build a data and AI culture that provides orientation instead of creating complexity.

For everyone who knows the feeling: The data is already there. But it’s about making something out of it.

Antonia Eidner is a communications and data expert with experience from positions at the BMW Group and Sennheiser, where she built data-driven communications and analytics infrastructure. She has been co-founder of the ECA collective (Effective Comms Analytics) since 2022 and supports communications teams on their way to a sustainable data culture.

Ricarda Heim is a data and analytics specialist with experience from positions at Microsoft Germany and the Volkswagen Group. She has been a co-founder of the ECA Collective since 2022 and advises companies on the implementation of data and AI strategies.

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